Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Takayuki Yakou

Koji Kuroda

Kazunori Kobayashi

Tetsuro Hamada

Kazuyuki Suetake

Kiyokazu Okubo

Keiji Nemoto

Yasushi Onuma

Kentaro Arai

Tetsurou Hamada

Katsuhiro Kitamura

Atsuhiro Sakai

Takeji Shino

Kazufumi Hosoda

Masayuki Hikita

A changing system in a manual transmission is provided. An interlock plate is mounted on a shift-selecting shaft capable of being moved axially in response to a selecting operation and turned about an axis in response to a shifting operation, so that the interlock plate cannot be turned about an axis of the shift-selecting shaft. The interlock plate has a pair of side plate portions which are provided at locations spaced apart from each other in an axial direction of the shift-selecting shaft and through which the shift-selecting shaft extends. A shifting arm disposed between the side plate portions is fixed to the shift-selecting shaft. In such changing system, the shifting arm and an interlock member operatively connected to the shifting arm are interposed between the side plate portions of the interlock plate. Thus, the shifting arm can be used commonly in manual transmissions, in despite of a difference in number of forward speed stages between the manual transmissions, thereby providing a reduction in cost and avoiding an increase in weight due to a variation in number of forward speed stages.

Changing system in manual transmission

A gear shift apparatus for a manual transmission utilizes an actuator to prevent a miss shift manipulation from a forward gear stage to a reverse gear stage. The gear shift apparatus permits the driver to forcedly release a mis-shift preventing state with a smaller force. In the gear shift apparatus for a manual transmission, a select cam is responsive to a selecting manipulation to pivotally move to forward positions corresponding to forward select positions and a reverse position corresponding to a reverse select position. A restraint cam is driven to a prohibiting position by a plunger when a solenoid is energized to prohibit the select cam from pivotally moving to the reverse position. In this prohibiting state, as the select cam is pivotally moved toward a forward position in response to a manipulation for selecting a forward select position, a release protrusion of the select cam presses the restraint cam to pivotally move the same from the prohibiting state to a permitting position.

Gear shift apparatus for manual transmission

In a four-wheel drive vehicle, a rear differential includes an input shaft to which a driving force is transmitted from front wheels through a propeller shaft, a driven bevel gear mounted on the input shaft, a follower bevel gear mounted on a clutch drive shaft and meshed with the driven bevel gear, left and right electromagnetic clutches disposed between opposite ends of the clutch drive shaft and left and right output shafts. The maximum transmitted torque transmitted through the left and right electromagnetic clutches is controlled, so that it is decreased with an increase in vehicle speed detected by vehicle speed detecting means. Thus, the vehicle can avoid the maximum horsepower transmitted by the bevel gears and the electromagnetic clutches being increased with an increase in vehicle speed. Therefore, it is possible to ensure the durability of the bevel gears and the clutches, while providing a reduction in size of the bevel gears and the clutches.

Driving force control system in four-wheel drive vehicle

A rear differential in a four-wheel drive vehicle includes a left and right clutches adapted to distribute a driving force transmitted from front wheels through a propeller shaft to left and right rear wheels. If the engagement of the left and right clutches is released, only the front wheels are driven and in this manner, the vehicle is brought into a front wheel-drive state. If the left and right clutches are brought into their engaged states, both of the front wheels and the rear wheels are driven and in this manner, the vehicle is brought into a four-wheel drive state. By changing the engagement forces of the left and right clutches, different driving forces can be distributed to the left and right rear wheels. In addition, when a driver operates a differential lock switch, the left and right clutches, are brought into their engaged states with the maximum engagement force, thereby integrally coupling the propeller shaft to the left and right rear wheels to provide a differential-locked state. Thus, a differential lock mechanism can be provided to the differential in a simple structure.

Four-wheel drive vehicle

A power transmitting system having an input shaft, a driven bevel gear, a follower bevel gear and a clutch drive shaft accommodated in longitudinally bisected center casings. Left and right electromagnetic clutches connected to the clutch drive shaft are accommodated in left and right side casings which are connected to the center casings and, such that a driving force from the input shaft is transmitted to left and right wheels through the pair of bevel gears and the left and right clutches. Thus, maintenance of the clutches can be easily performed, and the check and regulation of the meshed states of the bevel gears can be easily performed.

Power transmitting system for vehicle

A power transmitting system having an input shaft, a driven bevel gear, a follower bevel gear and a clutch drive shaft accommodated in center casings. Left and right electromagnetic clutches connected to the clutch drive shaft are accommodated in left and right side casings. Oil for lubricating the electromagnetic clutches is supplied from an oil pump accommodated in the center casings and driven by the clutch drive shaft through oil passages and axially defied in the clutch drive shaft and left and right output shafts. Thus, the length of the oil passages for supplying the oil from the oil pump to the clutches can be minimized to provide a reduction in size of the power transmitting system.

Clutch lubricating structure in power transmitting system

A 4-wheel drive vehicle has a driving force control method in which a portion of a driving force for front wheels is distributed to rear wheels through clutches. In a 4-wheel drive state in which a driving force T.sub.p is distributed to rear wheels, for example, if the vehicle is turned leftwards to generate a difference W.sub.R -W.sub.L between left and right rear wheel speeds, it is ensured that a driving force T.sub.R distributed to the right rear wheel, which is an outer wheel during turning of the vehicle, is larger than a driving force T.sub.L distributed to the left rear wheel, which is an inner wheel during turning of the vehicle, thereby providing an enhancement in turning performance. As the difference W.sub.R -W.sub.L between the left and right rear wheel speeds is increased as a result of decreasing of the turning radius of the vehicle, the driving force T.sub.P (=T.sub.L +T.sub.R) distributed to the rear wheels is decreased to avoid an increase in travel resistance. Thus, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as a deterioration of specific fuel consumption, an abnormal sound generated in a drive system and an increase in the load of the drive system due to an increase in travel resistance during turning of the vehicle.

Driving force control method in 4-wheel drive vehicle

A clutch plate is supported by a clutch housing which rotates in unison with an input shaft. Another clutch plate is supported by a clutch hub which rotates in unison with an output shaft. These clutch plates are disposed adjacent each other and are pressed and engaged with each other by a clutch piston through a pressure plate. A hydraulic pump is driven by the pressure plate through a pump driving member fitted to an outer periphery of the output shaft. Lubricating oil supplied from a lubricating oil port is conducted to the clutch plates through a lubricating oil passage formed between an outer periphery of the output shaft and an inner periphery of the pump driving member. The lubricating oil passage for conducting the lubricating oil to frictional engagement elements of the hydraulic clutch is formed outside the rotatable shaft, thereby reducing the fabricating cost of the apparatus.

Lubricating structure of hydraulic clutch

A power transmitting system of a four-wheel drive vehicle having primary driven wheels driven directly by a prime mover, and subsidiary driven wheels driven through a hydraulic clutch. The power transmitting system comprises a first hydraulic pump driven in operative association with the primary driven wheels and a second hydraulic pump driven in operative association with the subsidiary driven wheels. Each hydraulic pump has a pair of ports which serve as an intake and a discharge with the functions of such ports being reversed between forward and backward movement of the vehicle. A first oil passage connects the intake port of one pump with the discharge of the other pump and a second oil passage connects the discharge of the one pump with the intake of the other pump. Third and fourth oil passages connect the first and second oil passages, respectively, with a working hydraulic pressure chamber in the hydraulic clutch. A one-way valve is provided in each of the third and fourth oil passages for permitting only a flow of oil toward the working hydraulic pressure chamber. The reversal of vehicle movement and direction of oil discharged from each of the hydraulic pumps provided in the power transmitting system of the four-wheel drive vehicle is compensated for by a simple structure of oil passages and one-way valves.

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Saitama, Japan

Takayuki Yakou